Paige Bueckers donates $50K for food shelf in Hopkins, helping families impacted by Operation Metro Surge
In February, basketball superstar and Hopkins, Minnesota, native Paige Bueckers donated $50,000 to the Hopkins Education Foundation to help with food insecurities and rent relief during the immigration crackdown.
Hopkins Education Foundation is a nonprofit, created 30 years ago, that supports the Hopkins Schools district. In that time, they've given $4 million to the school district through grants for teachers and special projects that enhance the schools.
Emily Wallace-Jackson, the foundation's executive director, says at the highest point of the immigration crackdown, 350 students were staying home from school. In response, they launched the Hopkins Strong Relief Fund to help those families out with groceries and rent, and Paige answered the call in a big way.
"The dollar amount was surprising, but all of us know that Paige is really generous. She loves Hopkins schools and our community, so it was unexpected in the amount, but we know she would want to support us," said Wallace-Jackson.
The $50,000 donation from Bueckers was a match gift to the same amount raised by the community in a matter of a few days. Wallace-Jackson says they gave Bueckers' donation to the ICA food shelf, which serves people in Hopkins and Minnetonka.
Matt Dymoke, the director of development and communications at ICA Food Shelf, says Bueckers' donation went a long way towards food and rent help.
"Two weeks ago, we gave out 400 emergency [food] kits in one week. Typically, we are doing 90 a month, prior to Operation Metro Surge," said Dymoke, "She continues to remember us, she continues to remember her neighbors, and it's just an incredible way for her to give back and for our community to rally around Paige."
Another way Bueckers has given back over the years is by opening up a mini ICA food shelf inside West Middle School to help students directly, and she continues to fund it.
Rent struggles continue to be felt by families, so the work is not over.
"Many families are behind [rent] by months, so there is still a lot of need for donations," said Wallace-Jackson.
Bueckers' donation created a ripple effect of giving: one of Bueckers' corporate sponsors, Chegg, which is an online education tutoring tool, donated $50,000 as well to the Hopkins Strong Foundation. They also received 1,000 more separate donations from all 50 states and five counties.
